Pro - If corporal punishment is administered in the presence of at least two adults, that greatly reduces the risk of violent or sexual abuse.
Con - It is never right to hit a child.
Pro - Corporal punishment must be used as part of a wider strategy and at the correct time: when other immediate discipline has failed; when the child understands their behaviour and has had an opportunity to explain it; and after an initial warning and opportunity for the child to repent.
Con - Even the power of physical punishment to teach a child the difference between right and wrong is dubious; a young child may learn that the adult is displeased, but not why.
Pro - Child will never do what he deserved to get the spanking.
Con - Spanking will cause a state of extreme distress and confusion which makes it less likely they will analyse their behaviour with clarity.
Pro -Discipline the child.
Con -The actual physical damage inflicted via corporal punishment on children can be horrifying.
Pro - Serious physical injuries only occur where disciplined, strategic corporal punishment becomes child abuse.
Con - Spanking of the buttocks can cause damage to the sciatic nerve and therefore the leg to which it leads.
Pro - Corporal punishment, specifically spanking or similar actions, can be an effective punishment and deterrent for childish misbehaviour.
Con - The buttocks are a sexual zone; adults can derive pleasure from administering punishment to that zone, and can affect the psychosexual development of the children receiving it.
Pro - If children do not respond seriously to verbal warnings or light punishment from teachers or parents, then a short, sharp stimulus, which inflicts pain but no lasting damage, is the last resort to cause the child to associate misbehaviour with punishment.
Con - Even the presence of another adult does not prevent the easy degeneration from punishment into child abuse
Pro - Children will most likely never do what they did wrong again.
Con - A notorious case from Arizona in 1995 saw school principal Michael Wetton, who had previous convictions for violence against children, convicted of abuse after forcing a 9 year-old boy and a 15-year old girl to strip naked and be paddled.
Pro - Teaches them common sense and manners around other people.
Con - Examples can be found of students needing treatment for broken arms, nerve and muscle damage, and cerebral haemorrhage.
Pro -Teaches them to teach their kids to be discipline
Con - Children can be physically and mentally hurt from this.
Pro - Shows them what happens when they dont listen.
Con - If the kid is young, they will not understand what thy did wrong todeserve the punishment.
Pro - Kids will only be hurt if the attacker does too much.
Con - Could hurt them for the rest of their lives.
Pro - With more adults around the less likely for sexual assualt.
Pro -This can be a short term result for children that are engaging in negative behavior. It can actually help decrease the negative behavior that your child is exhibiting.
Pro -This can be effective for children that are between the ages of 2 and 6 when it is used with other forms of discipline such as a time out.
Pro -Using reasoning with this form of punishment may also be very effective and beneficial for parents.
Con - There may be long term, negative consequences such as anti-social behavior or even aggressive behaviors that can be seen by individuals that use this type of punishment all of the time with their children.
Con - There may be times when parents are actually sending mixed messages to their children if they are spanking them.
Con -This may cause a child to feel really detached from their parents.
Con - Think about how confusing that can be for a child when you are spanking them for being aggressive with another child.
Con - This is not an appropriate form of discipline for children that are in their teens.
Con - This can cause a lot of complications between the parent, and the child, as the child grow.
Pro - Spanking, if done right, is effective on a short-term basis for getting children to change their negative behavior.
By done right, I think the agreed concept here is that the method is used when a time out is determined to be an insufficient method for calming the child and drawing their mind away from the unhealthy obsession with misbehaving that they might be manifesting. “If done right” could also mean, in combination with other parenting skills.
Con - Spanking by itself and without reasoning has proven to increase aggressiveness, antisocial behavior, and can lead to a juvenile criminal record.
This type of spanking, technically, is not what we are viewing even on a corporal level. The category for this type of spanking, though we are not reviewing it in this article, would more appropriately be defined as “abuse”. To spank a child excessively and without understanding provided or clarified, and then to let that child grow sulking in that unfair treatment is a form of abuse.
Pro - Spanking, as a complimentary method in conjunction with or as a last resort from reasoning and time-out’s has been found most effective in 2 to 6 year olds.
Con - Spanking, if society is aware, can welcome unkind reproaches wherein it might be said of your family that your bond with your child is broken because you “have to spank him”.
Cost - With little or no cost, corporal punishment is affordable to everyone.
Quick - Corporal punishment is both quick and saves time, therefore allowing both parties to return to their tasks (such as a child returning to the classroom to resume learning).
Right/Wrong - Corporal punishment definitely teaches both right and wrong.
Reasons Against Corporal Punishment
Self Esteem: Corporal punishment can lower self esteem to both the punisher and punishee, and may have longer term psychological impact too.
Unnecessary: There are other means of education that are effective too. A common alternative is to educate why the action was wrong to the point of invoking empathy or shame.
Hostility: Those people receiving punishment are more like to be instilled with rage and hostility even into adulthood.
Violence: Are you familiar with the old adage: "monkey see, monkey do"? Well, corporal punishment trains children to be violent to other children and educates them that it is an acceptable means of education. This will carry on into adulthood too.
Child Abuse: For corporal punishment to typically continue working, more punishment, pain, or force maybe be necessary. As a result, child abuse typically starts as corporal punishment.
Spanking is expedient - it quickly delivers a powerful message in terms of behavior-modification.
Parents who lack the patience to teach through cognitive learning can use acts of physical aggession as a teaching method.
There's no need to waste a lot of time with verbal communication.
From our earliest days, primal grunts, gestures, and clubbings, have served us well.
Parents can release pent-up anger & frustration and not have to worry about physical retribution.
This 'venting' of anger and frustration through spanking might be viewed by parents as therapeutic in the absence of a household pet to kick-around.
It gives parents a sense of tradition; not unlike shooting guns in the air on the 4th of July.
A sense of nostalgia can also be provided as parents can hark back to the good old days when they themselves were whacked around by parents who wanted to show how much they cared.
Parents who confuse fear with respect can feel a sense of accomplishment.
Children cringing in fearful subservience serve to provide parents with a sense of power and control that they may find otherwise lacking in their lives.
Parents can feel they are preparing their kids for "that tough world out there".
The logic here assumes that the child may grow-up to one day find themselves in a job where the boss hits them when they make a mistake.
Cons :
Violence towards children causes a degree of trauma which carries with it a high risk in the development of psychopathology.
The ranks of the mentally ill, substance addicted, violent criminals, and sexual deviates, are filled with individuals who were the victims of violent, but not necessarily 'legally abusive' parents.
Children learn to strike-out when their sensibilities are offended.
It stands to reason that the best way to teach children how to be violent is to have them experience violence first-hand from the most influential teacher they'll ever have.
Not only does spanking make violence a part of a child's reality, it can also provide a child with the anger to trigger violent behavior; because when parents fail to break the mind and spirit of a child through the ultimate act of rejection, anger is often the result.
The nurturing role of the parent is put at risk. If the parent does not compensate for the hateful acts of violence toward their children with copious amounts of love and caring, there exists a strong possibility of the children losing trust, and becoming alienated from the parent.
As a result, offending behavior on the part of the children only increases; thereby turning the spankings into a totally counter-productive measure, and a continuing or escalating source of acrimony.
Spanking runs the risk of becoming criminal behavior.
Parents who employ corporal punishment as a means of 'discipline' take the risk of crossing the line into 'legal' child-abuse when under high levels of stress.
This is how most cases of child-abuse occur.
Children may one-day forget the trauma of the violence inflicted upon them, but they never forget the acts of violence.
Parents who treat their children in a violent manner usually fail to consider, in one way or another, there will be a heavy price to pay as a consequence.
In the very least, violence will act to diminish the quality of *any* relationship.
Children learn to abstain from certain unacceptable behaviors *so long as the parent is present*.
Some children will even find themselves *more* prone to these unacceptable behaviors in the absence of the parent through retribution or the "forbidden fruit is the sweetest" phenomena.
Through spanking, children become dependent on external controls (fear) for behavior rather than developing internal controls (self-discipline/conscience) through teaching with gentle, patient guidance.
Forms of Sado-masochistic behavior stem from childhood spankings.
Because the buttocks are an erogenous zone, pain can become associated with sexual stimulation through spankings.
Pain, control, and dominance can also become associated with ‘loving behavior’ as the result of corporal punishment, i.e., “I hit you because I love you”.
This convoluted definition of love can also set the stage for the child developing a tolerance for future abusive relationships.
Children who are not afforded dignity or treated in a respectful manner have a difficult time learning what those things are all about.
Why else would so many children grow-up with the notion that 'dignity' equates with 'demeanor' and 'respect' equates with 'fear'.
This can't be compromised when children are too young to have developed the necessary cognitive ability, awareness and responsibility to watch out for their own safety.
Discipline sets the boundaries that assure children they are safe.
Even when they push the limits, children need to feel that their parents are in charge of the safety net.
This also develops the trust that is needed as children become more independent.
Discipline creates the opportunity to teach children why their misbehavior is unacceptable, what behavior is appropriate, how to express strong emotions, how to resolve conflict and how to compromise.
Effective discipline takes the time to talk with children; giving them the tools they need to prevent misbehavior in the future and to manage their own reactions.
Discipline teaches children the important life lesson that their choices and actions have consequences.
The relationship between cause and effect is learned when discipline is given consistently and immediately, but it also needs to be the type of discipline that can teach.
Natural and logical consequences are two methods that achieve this goal because the discipline is directly related to the misbehavior.
If a child throws a toy at someone in anger, then he loses that toy; if he refuses to stop watching television to come to dinner, he loses television time.
Inconsistent discipline sends the wrong message.
Parents who sometimes but not always punish a specific behavior create confusion.
It teaches children that they don't need to obey rules.
Parents who give in after hours of pestering or anger from their child only succeed in teaching that she will always get her way if she just keeps pushing.
This type of lesson fuels ongoing battles at home and can turn into bullying or noncompliant behavior at school.
Discipline that is used only to punish can easily become too harsh and ultimately damage your child's self-esteem, destroy trust and create fear.
Children need to know that parents will teach and guide.
Discipline that merely punishes rather than teaches does not allow success.
Self-esteem is battered, and she is no longer willing to take the risks inherent in socialization.
Some types of discipline may have an immediate response but fail to change future behavior.
Physical punishment alone only teaches that hitting and aggression are solutions.
It does not help him learn the desired behavior.
Discipline that is not developmentally appropriate also won't be effective.
Toddlers are not yet able to make a connection between their behavior and physical punishment.
Advocates for the elimination of corporal punishment almost universally recommend that schools adopt strong disciplinary codes and standards of conduct which would give teachers and administrators the unequivocal authority they need to maintain order.
They point to the lasting damage which even the mildest form of humiliation can inflict on a young mind.
They champion the effectiveness of reason and justice imposed by a strict code of behavior which is enforced fairly.
Advocates for the elimination of corporal punishment seem to be most effective when they are able to shame school boards and legislators into action by exposing the worst examples of beating and other physical abuse.
Advocates for the elimination of corporal punishment also point to many respected professional organizations such as American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry which have come out solidly against corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment is about power - the power of a stronger person over a weaker one, the power of an adult over a child.
Banning corporal punishment removes fear from the class room.
It eliminates a source for potential violence.
It seeks to break the cycle of abuse which has been around far too long in the opinion of the abolitionists.
Eliminating corporal punishment removes a disciplinary tool, which if used wisely and within established guidelines, can be very effective at teaching a child the difference between right and wrong.
That's the essence of the argument put forward by some proponents of controlled corporal punishment.
They want corporal punishment to be retained but used sparingly and only in the most extreme situations.
The expression 'spare the rod and spoil the child' is not biblical, yet Christian fundamentalists cite it as evidence that God somehow approves of beating.
Many religious fundamentalists, not just Christian ones, feel strongly that children must be taught to obey rules, laws and authority, so that they will grow up to be law abiding, responsible members of society.
Corporal punishment is legal in twenty-one states precisely because the majority of those states' residents want it that way.
While most people (at least publicly) decry the use of spanking as a form of child discipline, more people do spank their kids than they let on.
Instead, many spanking opponents still justify "swats" or "smacks" or even "popping of the hands or head" as different than spanking.
But spanking doesn't literally just mean the kind where a child is bent over your knees and whose bottom is struck with a hand (or even belt).
Most define spanking as any physical contact that involves striking a child for the purpose of stopping a behavior or action or getting their attention.
With all that said, most child psychologists, pediatricians, so-called parenting experts, educators and middle-class parents oppose spanking.
The reasoning is that spanking can cause life-long emotional damage to a child (and sometimes even physical damage as well).
Plus, spanking opponents argue, there are plenty of other alternative ways to discipline a child who is acting inappropriately.
"Corporal Punishment (for Children): Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions." IDEA: International Debate Education Association. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=108.
"Learn More about Spanking, Good or Bad?" Spanking, Good Or Bad? Web. 28 Mar. 2012. http://getmentalhealthy.com/articles/category/parenting/spanking-good-or-bad/.
"Expert Articles Just for Parents!" Firm Parenting: The Pros and Cons of Spanking. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. http://whereparentstalk.com/articles/whereparentstalk/firm-parenting-pros-and-cons-spanking.
"Parenting Workshop." The Pros and Cons of Using Corporal Punishment to Discipline Your Children. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.
http://www.totalmakeoverparentingsystem.com/admin/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-corporal-punishment-to-discipline-your-children/.
"The Pros and Cons of Corporal Punishment." « Phil for Humanity. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. <http://www.philforhumanity.com/Corporal_Punishment.html>.
Reasons Supporting Corporal Punishment
- Deterrent - Corporal punishment is usually an effective behavior deterrent.
- Compliance - Increases immediate short-term compliance.
- Cost - With little or no cost, corporal punishment is affordable to everyone.
- Quick - Corporal punishment is both quick and saves time, therefore allowing both parties to return to their tasks (such as a child returning to the classroom to resume learning).
- Right/Wrong - Corporal punishment definitely teaches both right and wrong.
Reasons Against Corporal Punishment"Spanking Debate." The *Pros & Cons of Spanking. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. http://forums.ivillage.com/t5/General-Debate/The-Pros-Cons-of-Spanking/td-p/60724386.
Pros :
- Spanking is expedient - it quickly delivers a powerful message in terms of behavior-modification.
- Parents who lack the patience to teach through cognitive learning can use acts of physical aggession as a teaching method.
- There's no need to waste a lot of time with verbal communication.
- From our earliest days, primal grunts, gestures, and clubbings, have served us well.
- Parents can release pent-up anger & frustration and not have to worry about physical retribution.
- This 'venting' of anger and frustration through spanking might be viewed by parents as therapeutic in the absence of a household pet to kick-around.
- It gives parents a sense of tradition; not unlike shooting guns in the air on the 4th of July.
- A sense of nostalgia can also be provided as parents can hark back to the good old days when they themselves were whacked around by parents who wanted to show how much they cared.
- Parents who confuse fear with respect can feel a sense of accomplishment.
- Children cringing in fearful subservience serve to provide parents with a sense of power and control that they may find otherwise lacking in their lives.
- Parents can feel they are preparing their kids for "that tough world out there".
- The logic here assumes that the child may grow-up to one day find themselves in a job where the boss hits them when they make a mistake.
Cons :"Pros and Cons of Child Discipline." LIVESTRONG.COM. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. http://www.livestrong.com/article/73494-pros-cons-child-discipline/.
"Corporal Punishment(pros and Cons) - Stephymg_lifelesson." Moved Temporarily. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. <http://sites.google.com/site/stephymglifelesson/home/corporal- punishment>.
"Should Corporal Punishment Be Banned?" About.com Private Schools. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. http://privateschool.about.com/od/profdevelopment/i/beating_2.htm.
"Child Discipline - Is Spanking a Child Ever Okay?" About.com Child Care. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. http://childcare.about.com/od/behaviorsanddiscipline/qt/spank.htm.